Oversight of SGA Budget Ft. Vice President Meet Patel

An interview with SGA Vice President Meet Patel on the fundamentals, achievements, and uses of the SGA budget and grant system. Meet offers insight into how the budget and grant system came into place and how it’s here to help student organizations.

Heidi Copple | hcopple@butler.edu

One of the best resources for student organizations at Butler is the SGA Grant system. Information regarding applying for grants can be found at butlersga.org/grants. Depending on the mission of the organization, there are different grants available, including general, DESB, service and philanthropy, and green.

The SGA budget funds the grant system. Every year, the incoming SGA Vice President determines the funds allocated for future use. Based on the remaining funds from the previous year, the Vice President, with guidance from the President, adjusts the new budget based on possible changing organizational expenses. 

The budget is presented to the Student Senate, explaining each line item and justifying the need for additional funds. The Vice President, currently Meet Patel, takes any questions or comments from the Senate before voting on and approving the budget. 

According to Patel, one of the best achievements of the SGA budget is the maintenance of a ledger that is constantly updated to reflect the newest expenses. This policy gives the Audit Board the ability to immediately recommend budget reallocations. 

“The Diversity, Equity, and Student Belonging Grant line item ($20,000) was heavily requested and completed used by the student organizations. Since the Audit Board constantly updated the Budget Ledger, we were able to identify the deficit and recommend that the Senate Speaker allocate more funding towards this line from the

General Grant line time,” said Patel. 

Beyond grants, budget money goes towards several programs across the Judicial, Executive, and Legislative branches of SGA. Some of these programs include salaries and wages, student transportation services (Uber), mental health and well-being resources, student engagement initiatives, and DEI and student-belonging initiatives.